diff --git a/doc/Support/Configuration.md b/doc/Support/Configuration.md
index 68cb55251..aa29e5c52 100644
--- a/doc/Support/Configuration.md
+++ b/doc/Support/Configuration.md
@@ -169,6 +169,14 @@ $config['enable_footer'] = 1;
 ```
 Disable the footer of the WebUI by setting `enable_footer` to 0.
 
+#### Add host settings
+The following setting controls how hosts are added.  If a host is added as an ip address it is checked to ensure the ip is not already present.  If the ip is present the host is not added.
+If host is added by hostname this check is not performed.  If the setting is true hostnames are resovled and the check is also performed.  This helps prevents accidental duplicate hosts.
+```php
+$config['addhost_alwayscheckip']   = FALSE; #TRUE - check for duplicate ips even when adding host by name.
+                                            #FALSE- only check when adding host by ip.
+```
+
 #### SNMP Settings
 
 ```php
diff --git a/includes/defaults.inc.php b/includes/defaults.inc.php
index ace72f1dc..85ce76508 100644
--- a/includes/defaults.inc.php
+++ b/includes/defaults.inc.php
@@ -148,6 +148,8 @@ $config['show_services'] = 0;
 // Enable Services on menu
 $config['ports_page_default'] = 'details';
 // eg "details" or "basic"
+// Adding Host Settings
+$config['addhost_alwayscheckip']   = FALSE;   # TRUE - check for duplicate ips even when adding host by name. FALSE- only check when adding host by ip.
 // SNMP Settings - Timeouts/Retries disabled as default
 // $config['snmp']['timeout'] = 1;            # timeout in seconds
 // $config['snmp']['retries'] = 5;            # how many times to retry the query
diff --git a/includes/functions.php b/includes/functions.php
index b5ca17045..b24797e22 100644
--- a/includes/functions.php
+++ b/includes/functions.php
@@ -270,7 +270,12 @@ function addHost($host, $snmpver, $port = '161', $transport = 'udp', $quiet = '0
     list($hostshort) = explode(".", $host);
     // Test Database Exists
     if (dbFetchCell("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM `devices` WHERE `hostname` = ?", array($host)) == '0') {
-        if (ip_exists($host) === false) {
+        if ($config['addhost_alwayscheckip'] === TRUE) {
+            $ip = gethostbyname($host);
+        } else {
+            $ip = $host;
+        }
+        if (ip_exists($ip) === false) {
             // Test reachability
             if ($force_add == 1 || isPingable($host)) {
                 if (empty($snmpver)) {